An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Metze
Metze (1.), m., from the equiv. MidHG. steinmętze, OHG. steinmęzzo, m., ‘stone cutter’; also once in OHG. steinmeizzo, which is clearly connected with OHG. meiȥȥan, ‘to hew,’ mentioned under Meißel. But whether OHG. steinmęzzo originated in steinmeizzo, or whether Metze, Goth. *matja (comp. Fr. maçon, ‘mason, bricklayer’) is connected with the root mat, ‘to hew’ (AS. and E. mattock), remains obscure.
Metze (2.), f., ‘corn measure, peck,’ from MidHG. mëzze, OHG. mëzzo, m., ‘small dry measure.’ Teut. ë results from the Bav. and Alem. pronunciation. This word, like Goth. mitaþs, ‘measure’ (about 18 bush.), is connected with the Teut. root met, ‘to measure’; AS. mitta, ‘corn measure,’ is also equiv. to OHG. mëzzo. The masc. is still the gender in UpG., the fem. seems to be of MidG. and LG. origin. To the pre-Teut. root mod (med) belongs Lat. modius, ‘peck,’ which (see Pfund and Münze) before the OHG. period passed into West Teut.; comp. OSax. muddi, OHG. mutti, MidHG. mütte, ‘bushel.’
Metze (3.) f., ‘prostitute,’ from MidHG. metze, f., which is “literally a pet name for Mathilda, then ‘a girl of the lower class,’ often with the accessory notion of a loose life.” For other abbreviated forms with the suffix tz or z used as pet names, comp. Fritz and Kunz.